I woke up from my phone's alarm blaring in my ear, It wasn't even one day and my "Tactical Nuke! Incoming!" earrape edition alarm was already a bad idea to start with…
I tried reaching out for my phone on the desk next to me only to have it fall of the wooden floor forcing me to drag my body partially out of my bed, "ugh...fuck sake..." I grumbled myself.
I inspected the screen hoping that it didn't get cracked, thankfully it didn't which means I don't need to waste what little money I have at the moment…
I turned on my phone and checked the time as the screen blinded my eyes for a second before they adjusted to the brightness. My phone showed my Background picture of Gray Fox from Metal Gear Solid, and above that the time, which was 7:01.
As much as I would love to stay in bed and not go outside, I had to force myself to get up and go to school.
New school semester, new classes, same shit to deal with...
My name is Jun Nishimura, and ever since my last year of middle school, I've been...how do I say this…
Uhh...Well, I guess the best way I can describe this is that, all standards that I've had towards my life and life, in general, has disappeared…
It's been Thano's snapped out of existence.
Now I've tried talking to some people about this, friends from middle school, Online friends, a counselor at some point, but all of them have either told me that it's depression, which I know it isn't for a fact, or me just going through puberty and slowly becoming an edgy teenager like 40% of the underage community.
Thankfully, there's been a couple of people within my life that's been trying to support me.
Parents, older brother, about 1-2 trusted Online friends, my Childhood friend and
neighbor, and strangely enough my History Teacher at School who is willing to put up and joke about my bullshit.
I can't tell if this part of my nonexistent standards but I've already given up at trying to be the "normal" me that I've been for my past life. So far though, it's actually been pretty peaceful...
I struggled to get up from my bed for a solid 5 minutes before I was to get up and get dressed for the first day of my second year of High School.
Since it was slightly dark in my room, I wandered around before reaching my door, turning on the light, and getting a look of my messing room that I nicknamed "Detroit."
The reason why it's nicknamed Detroit isn't because my room is just a mess, but because it's always a mess no matter how hard I clean it. I guess that's the room of an Art Student for ya, instead of clothes, plates, and other stuff around the floor and walls, it's just papers that have random sketches, the occasional painting, and water bottles, lot and lot's of empty water bottles which I've written off as the 'Early Stages of Alcoholism.'
The only clean place was my bed, which wasn't made or probably ever gonna be made, and my study desk which had my monitor, keyboard and Mouse, and Headset with my Gaming Computer right next to the desk…
Now that the light was on, I was able to find my School uniform and bag. Before I left my room and headed for the bathroom, I grabbed my glasses from the mini table next to my bed.
I brushed my teeth, wash my face, tried to sort out my slightly long hair but gave up, and headed downstairs where I'd eat breakfast alone as usual.
My Mom and Dad always left an hour early before I did since they always did some long hours in the office, and my older brother doesn't have college classes until 10, so I was always ate breakfast alone while browsing either Twitter or Reddit.
I finished my breakfast and checked the time, 7:37, a couple minutes earlier from when I usually leave the house. Fuck it, no harm in leaving early…
As I opened the door, I covered my eyes in pain as the sunlight nearly blinded me as I stepped out. Ugh, too bright…
I locked the door behind me and stepped out of my front yard starting my 20-ish minute walk to the school.
As I walked down the block and tried not to close my eyes as much so I don't fall asleep, I heard some running behind me with a muffled voice, "Jun!"
I turned my head and saw Sayori, my brownish-red headed childhood friend and neighbor running towards me with a piece of bread in her mouth, of course she is…
"Do you really have to do that?" I asked her while yawning
She stopped her running when she was in front of me, took her bread out of her mouth and asked me "You were gonna leave me behind weren't you?"
This is Sayori Watanabe, as explained before she is my childhood and my neighbor ever since we were kids. We went to the same middle school and are attending the same High School as seconds year students, well I would've been the only one attending 2nd year if Sayori had one more late attendance on her school record.
Sayori is a nice person to hang out with, she's pretty, has a nice attitude, and is generally positive for the most part. The only problem is her clumsiness and gung-ho motto when it comes to her life.
I ignored her question, walked to her house, and opened her unlocked front door, "And you were gonna head to school with your front door unlocked for thieves to come in and jack your stuff, weren't you?" I asked as I brought out my spare key for Sayori's home and locked it.
I looked back at her with an annoyed face and all she could was just play this off, "W-well, it's a good thing that you have a spare key y'know…hehe…"
It's bad enough that I'm hold no standards anymore, I don't need it to spread to Sayori...
I walked out of her yard and tried to make my way to school again, "Of course I do. After what happened last school year, It's better to have one just in case…" I said reminding us of what happened.
Saying that Sayori was "In a bad place" is an understatement and a half, she was depressed to a point where she almost hung herself. I'm just glad that I was fast enough to bust into her room after reading her "Goodbye Letter" she left in my bag.
It doesn't matter how much I questioned her why she wanted to kill herself, she still won't tell me what got to her and why, but I'm glad that I was able to stop her from ending it.
Sayori felt a little sad when I brought it up, "Y-yeah, I'm really glad you were there to help me...even if I was too stubborn to tell you why…" Ever since the incident, her parents told me to keep a close eye on her and gave me a spare key if things felt too off.
Sayori tried to change the atmosphere, "B-but at least I'm getting professional help now. So thing's may be looking up for me, you know?"
I sighed as I continued to walk with Sayori, "Still, it's not exactly a great sight to see your childhood friend trying to hang herself. Like I said before, you can always talk to me if you feel down in the dumps you know, I don't know how much it helps to know that but at least it's something and over nothing…"
Sayori went back to having a slightly sad face when I told her that, "Yeah, I know...it's just…" She said as her voice trailed off, she didn't speak anymore and just stayed silent for the rest of the way.
I've already heard her repeat that line a lot before, so she's not gonna tell me anything anymore from this point on, might as well drop the topic…
We stayed silent for another 5 minutes before we reached the school where students gathered near the entrance to meet up with old friends or for the student council to call out anyone shady.
Sayori stopped for a moment before turning to me, "I guess my friends are waiting for me, so I guess I'll see you at lunch?" She said apologetically
"Yeah, I'll be at the usual spot...if it's unlocked…" I said as I headed inside the school to get my new schedule and room number.
The rest of the day went on as any other normal day after I got my schedule; get to class, get lectured on what was on the syllabus, and try to get to know other classmates in which I didn't bother trying, and repeated this about 4 times before it was time for lunch.
I left my classroom with no one bothering me, asking where I was going and headed straight for the roof. As I walked up the stairs and opened the door that was unlocked, I got myself a whiff of fresh air that hit me when I stepped out the door.
I used my bag as a doorstop as I sat on one of the concrete ledges that pointed towards the school with a sturdy fence behind, preventing me from falling back.
From the beginning of my High School career, or at least 1-2 months after, this is how I've always spent my lunch period.
I come up here and eat alone while browsing Twitter or Reddit, or I'd listen to music just to pass the time. Sayori sometimes joins me, but if she isn't here then she's was eating with her friends from club.
I can't really say that I have friends other than Sayori since I never bothered communicating with people unless it was for group projects or if it was my turn to do class chores.
And just like that, I resumed my so called tradition of eating alone while reading about other people complain about their Bullshit on Twitter for the next 20 minutes.
Before I even knew it, lunch was about to be over, I guess Sayori was eating with her friends today.
I stood up and dusted off my pants while heading for the door, I opened it and grabbed my bag only to hear someone gasping while jogging up the stairs up to where I was.
As I looked over the edge, I saw Sayori with her bag and what looks to be half a cinnamon roll in her other hand.
"You know lunch is about to be over right? You don't have to come up..." I said as I hopped down the stairs and stopped her in her tracks.
"Yeah...I know….but…!" Sayori said while panting from exhaustion, "I got….a good idea...for you…!"
A good idea, huh?
"Club…" She said, club? What about it? "Join...the Literature Club!"
I stood there not sure what I can say…
"You want me to join...the Literature Club?" I asked sort of skeptically…
I wasn't sure if joining a club was a good idea for me especially since joining a club with my attitude would probably get me kicked out, I mean that's what happened to me last year at the Art Club…
"I don't know about that chief, Joining a club might be a bad idea. I'd probably ruin the mood and feel of a club like last time with my bullshit…" I recalled from my experience.
Sayori stopped her panting s she caught her breath, "Don't worry, the people there are nice and supportive. Besides I'm one of the members, so you won't have a choice but to believe in yourself!" She said assertively as she pointed at me with a determined smile.
"Just join us for today and see if you're comfortable there, just for one day, Please~?" She said as she pleaded.
Sigh, she's not gonna leave me alone if I say no, it's just for one day right?
"One day?" I asked Sayori, she went from pleading to smiling at the drop of a hat, "Just one day! And If it doesn't suit you, you don't have to come back ok?" Sayori said as she held out her hand that was sort of sticky from her cinnamon bun.
"...right, let's just get to class before-" the school bell rang before I was able to finish my sentence, "...we're late…"
Well, at least teachers are sort of lenient to late students on the first day…
With 3 more classes repeating the same pattern of boredom, eating away at my will to not sleep in class, the end of the school day came right before I was about to nod off.
At least my Favorite history teacher was the last class, so I wasn't entirely bored...
I stepped out of my classroom as I waited for Sayori to come and take me to where the Literature Club would meet. After 5-7 minutes of waiting, she quickly ran up to me, took my hand, and dragged me to the other side of the school to get to the clubs classroom.
"You're gonna like the club Jun, but we need to hurry since we're late!" Sayori said as she guided me through the maze of students
"So you're telling me that you're usually late, even to your own club?" I asked her teasingly
"N-not always…" Sayori said while slightly embarrassed…
I was joking...
We stopped at a classroom where it looked like there was only 2 members inside.
Sayori was straightening out her hair and clothes as she breathed in and out before having a warm smile and bursting through the sliding doors.
"Hey guys I'm here! And I found a new Member who wants to join too!" She said happily as all 2 of the other members attention were on us, but mainly at me…
Fucking clickbaited...
"I thought you said it was just for one day…" I whispered to Sayori with an annoyed tone…
"Did I say that?" Sayori tried to recall before trying to act cute as if she forgot what she said a couple of hours ago.
I can't help but congratulate Sayori for playing me like a damn fiddle and actually convincing me to try and join a club…
"Ugh! Did you really bring a boy? To our club Sayori? Typical..." A small girl with pink hair and small red ribbons said as she stomped over to where we was with a glare.
Haha, this is off to an amazing start…/s
"Nishimura, is that you?" Another person said, this time she came up from the front desk.
She looked to be just as tall as me but had long brown flowing hair with white bow that tied everything together neatly and green piercing emerald eyes that could make almost anyone intimidated, but that didn't mean I knew her at all…
She stood right in front of me with a warm smile as she presented herself, "I didn't think you'd join our club...you do remember me, right?"
"Haha, I have no clue who any of you are!" I said without any hesitation
The girl with brown hair seemed to have chuckled at my comment, "Well I guess I should've expected that, but I didn't think you'd say it with full confidence...but I guess that's what I should've expected after last year…" she said
Last year? Was she in any of my classes?
Meh, probably...I never really paid attention to the students in my class, So...I guess she was one of them…?
"My name is Monika Ishida, President of the Literature Club. We were classmates in English class last year." Monika said trying to jog my memory.
"Still never heard of ya!" I said with no hesitation again.
"Hehe, alright well if haven't heard of me last year, then I guess we can start out with being friends this year." Monika said with a cheery expression
"If I didn't remember you last year, what makes you think I'm gonna want to know you this year…" I said as gave a dry laugh
Monika then gave me a surprised look, after realising what I said I immediately apologised...
"Sigh* I'm...sorry, I really need to stop doing that. It's sort of a habit from looking after someone for so long…" I said while slowing turning my heads towards Sayori
"Hehehe….I uh...wonder who…" Sayoru tried to sneak away from me and behind Monika
Monika chuckled again when she saw me interact with Sayori, "I guess that's understandable. She almost like a younger sister to you isn't she?"
"If she was my younger sister, I'd be alot harder on her than I already am...Oh right, you can call me Jun. No need for honorifics or anything, doesn't matter to me."
Monika extended her hand towards me, "Well then it's nice to finally meet you Jun, hopefully you can remember me this year!" Monika said with a playful tone.
No promises...
Monika then stepped to the side and presented the small girl with pink hair that insulted me earlier, "Would you like to introduce yourself, Natsuki?" Monika asked.
Natsuki, who was glaring at me, looked away and grumbled her name, "...Natsuki Suzuki…"
Sayori who was behind Natsuki, grabbed her from behind and started to hug Natsuki tightly, "Natsuki~ You don't have to be such a Tsun. to Jun, he's not as bad as he looks…"
Thanks…?
"I'm being a Tsun.! It's just that...Ugh! Nevermind…" Natsuki said as she stomped away and stood next to a desk that had cupcakes on it with some cute animal frosting on top.
"Sorry about that…" Monika apologised, "Natsuki's...a bit rough around the edges when you first meet her, but she'll warm up to you...eventually…"
"Huh, So I guess It just the 3 of you in this club then? Isn't it School rules for at least 4-5 members?" I asked Monika
She seemed to have given me a confused look before realising something, "Oh I almost forgot! We do have another member but she's a bit shy…" Monika said while waving to someone with long purple hair who was at the very back of the classroom.
As she walked up and covered her face with a book only letting her dark but purple vibrant eyes poke out, she said in shakily yet gentle voice, "H-hello, my name is...Yuri Takagi..." To my surprise, it looked like Yuri was about an inch or two taller than me...
I waved at her and introduced myself, "Hi, I'm Jun Nishimura, nice to meet you." I said as I brought my hand out
She looked at it for a second before slowly taking her hand and gently taking mine, for some reason this reminded of an animal handler giving food to an Cautious animal.
"Despite being as shy as she is, Yuri has read the most books out of all of us here. So if you ever want something to read, Yuri should be a good person to ask for recommendations!" Monika brightly added in.
"Oh N-no, I think that's a bad idea, I'll just recommend weird books…" Yuri said denying the praise Monika gave her.
"Oh don't be like that Yuri, you recommend great books!" Sayori said as she tried to cheer up Yuri.
This seemed to have cheered Yuri up slightly, but it didn't remove the book she still hid behind.
"Ok, now that everyone's been introduced, Let's get down to Club Business shall we?" Monika said brightly as she stepped back up to the teachers desk to announce the plans for today.
"Since it's the first day, I'd like to thank Natsuki for baking those cupcakes not only for us, but for the newcomers of this club, in which I guess is just Jun…" Monika said while giving me the small spot light.
I somewhat butted in, "I mean, I technically haven't decided anything yet, so I'm not really a new member…" Yup, my infamous skill of breaking the mood at unnecessary times presents itself again…
"O-oh, well I guess we could make you a temporary member for now, I mean you could still-" Monika wasn't able to finish her sentence since she was interrupted by Natsuki, "Well if you're not gonna be a member than scram! We don't need any boys on our Club!" She said all prideful
Well fuck you too pink loli-chan…
"Natsuki, member or not, you should still be respectful to him. He never said anything bad to you did he?" Monika said in a stern voice.
Haha, I already did but I couldn't really care for someone who could classify as a middle schooler…
"I'm Sorry about that Jun, Natsuki's not a bad person. Please forgive her." Monika apologised.
"Yeah, It's alright. I've heard worse...way worse..." I replied, compared to the Internets Toxicity being The Internet, Natsuki isn't a threat…
Monika then cleared her voice and continued to give her speech, "Alright well, as I was saying, Since Jun is a newcomer, we should tell him what we do in the Literature Club. Sayori would you like to tell him?"
Sayori tuned to me and gave me a piece of paper, but it was actually a flyer that looks like it'd be hung out in the hallway.
It read:
Come and Join the Literature Club!
Read books (and Manga), Write Poems, and Drink tea with us!
In the middle of the paper it showed a decent-ish drawing of some books and what looks to be all 4 of the members in the middle with stars, glitter, and bubble letters all throughout the flyer.
Needless to say, as an Art Student, I don't know what the fuck I'm looking at. But as a regular person, this….yeah, no…
I can sort of understand why no one has joined up to this point just from this flyer itself…
"So books, poems and tea?" I asked unsure if this was what they really did…
"Yup! We write poems, sometimes read books and have tea with us!" Sayori said cheerfully.
"Right…" was all I was able to say, yikes I'm probably not gonna join the club…
"We're gonna be writing poems for the first week, join us Jun, it'll be fun!" Sayori said with a happy smile.
"Ummm, I don't know about that, compared to my artwork I don't think I'm as confident in writing poems, I mean I did write a poem about how bad I am at writing poems last year…" I said trying to subtly bail out of this club
And I did get a B on my poem too so, I guess that works…?
Monika then spoke up after hearing my excuse, "Oh yeah, I remember that poem last year. That wasn't a bad poem, it was decent for your first time even if you did it for a grade."
Sayori's eyes lit up when she heard this, "See! Even Monika thinks your poems are good, your perfect for this club!"
Monika soon had a certain look in her eye when she saw Sayori light up, "Well I guess it's settled then, Welcome to the Literature Club Jun." Monika started to clap lightly with Sayori joining in.
Hold on, I never agreed to anything!
"Ok, I didn't really say that I'd join the club-" I was then shushed by Monika who held a finger up to me.
"Oh come on Jun, do this for Sayori! I mean, you don't want to break her high spirits of you joining the club now do you?" Monika mischievously said while Sayori was still bright and happy.
You sneaky bastard Monika…
I sucked up my pride and forced myself to smile, "Sure I'll join the Literature Club…"
"Great!" Monika said as she clapped her hands together, "Now that you're a member, let's go have some of Natsuki's cupcakes that she baked for us!"
Natsuki was acting amug as she presented a cupcake to each of us, while everyone took a bite out of theirs that tasted good, I was given a deformed one that, even though it tasted good, was hard to chew through.
After we ate all the cupcakes that Natsuki baked, Monika gave us our first assignment for us to do for Friday just in case anyone else joined late: Write a poem about anything.
After she told us, we were excused to head home.
It seemed simple enough to do, so I guess it can't be that hard right?
Hahahaha, WRONG.
I've been sitting at my desk, at home, for a solid 40 minutes, thinking, of what the fuck to write a poem about…
As I sat there with no motivation or idea on what to write for a poem, I wondered to myself if I could rewrite my poem from last year hoping that It might work...
I was sitting there thinking to myself, where my thoughts were interrupted from light tapping on my window.
I was confused on what was doing the tapping since my room was on the second floor.
When I moved the curtains, I saw Sayori with a handful of pebbles aiming at my window, she waved at me and dropped those pebbles when I saw her.
I closed my curtains after seeing this and continued to focus on the poem.
It wasn't even 2 minutes and my phone started to ring, It was Sayori…
Block…
5 minutes later…
Ding Dong…
Another 5 minutes later Sayori barges into my room, "Why are you ignoring me!?" she said angrily in her Pajamas and an orange sweater
"I'm trying to do some work, have you finished your poem?" I asked her, chances are she probably…
"Yes I already did." Sayori said while still pouting
...forgot…
She then took a look at my blank piece of paper, "Oh~? Are you still not done with your's? My, My~ I never thought I'd see the day where Jun hasn't finished his homework before me…" She teasingly said.
"Like I said before, I'm not that good at writing poems, I don't even know what to write about…" I said as I looked at my ceiling in boredom.
Sayori then sat on my bed while picking up some of my sketches and told me, "I don't think it's that hard to write a poem, just write down what you feel and go from there. That's what I do."
I chuckled to myself when I heard that, "Just write what you feel huh? Fuck it, why not."
I then started to write down exactly what I felt and within minutes I finished my not so lengthy poem.
"Ooo~ Let me read it!" Sayori asked as she tried to reach my paper
"You'll hear it Friday, but for now, go home and go to sleep." I said pushing Sayori out of my room.
"No Fair!" She said as I closed my door, "I gave you some inspiration, you should give you inspirer some kind of compensation for giving you ideas!"
"Good Night!" I said as I went to my bed and tried to sleep.
I could already hear the footsteps leave my room and head downstairs as the front doors open and close.
10 minutes later...
A set of footsteps were heard heading up the stairs and stopped next to my door.
"Hey Jun…" Sayori said on the other side of my door, "Can I have one of your spare keys?"
This girl…